This invention relates to an improved ball valve for refrigerating systems, in particular refrigerating systems using Freon gas.
It is known to use ball valves for intercepting or regulating a gas flow in refrigerating systems for interrupting the gas flow when a breakdown occurs in the refrigerating system.
Normally such ball valves are connected with their inlet and outlet openings to the pipes in which the gas flow forming the refrigerating circuit is running.
The connection between the ball valve and the cooling circuit is obtained substantially by inserting in unthreaded pipe fittings provided at the ends of the ball valve, the pipes of the refrigerating circuit and subsequently locking them in the interior of the pipe fittings by a brazing welding operation.
At present the ball valves used in refrigerating systems are normally constituted by a body of appropriate form designed to contain the inner members of the valve including a ball shutter, sealing seats and gaskets.
These latter members are normally mounted by introducing them through side inlet and outlet openings of the gas flow, arranged along the horizontal axis of the valve. However, these members could not be inserted through the vertical aperture forming the seat of the actuating members as this aperture is too small.
After mounting the above-mentioned members, they are enclosed in the interior of the valve body through an apertured sleeve screwed onto a side end of the valve body.
For greater safety of sealing between the sleeve and the valve body, a circular weld is made along the connection strip therebetween for irremovably locking the above-mentioned members.
These welds between the pipes and the side connections as well as between the sleeve and the valve body have the disadvantage of considerably heating the valve body even if special expedients are adopted for cooling it.
This heating sometimes causes a deterioration of the sealing seats made of synthetic plastic material and arranged in the interior of the valve with the result that it is necessary to replace the latter which has been made unusable and unreclaimable as it is impossible to get access to the interior thereof for replacement of the members damaged by heat.
It is an object of the present invention to eliminate or reduce the drawbacks and disadvantages of the ball valves hirtherto used in refrigerating systems and to provide a ball valve structure that is decidedly more simple than the known types and moreover does not involve the risk of deterioration of the inner members of the valve during the operation of connection to the pipes of the cooling circuit.
A further object to be achieved by the present invention consists in providing a ball valve in which mounting and dismounting of the elements contained in the interior of the valve body can be carried out with great ease and speed without using special equipment.